Crossing Paths
by FearlessFred
Summary: What would have happened if Steph had met Ranger and his Merry Men before she started bounty hunting and gotten involved with Morelli. Would she still have ended up on the same path she is now.
1. Chapter 1

This is my second attempt at writing fan fic and I'm not even finished the 1st one yet. I've had so many ideas floating in my head but they wouldn't sit right in my other fic, Stranger in Trenton that I have decided to go down a whole new route. Please let me know what you think. I will still be working on the other story too.

Janet is the creator of the Plum universe, I'm just twisting it to my liking.

Chapter 1

I was sitting in my Uncle Sandor's big blue monstrous Buick wondering how it had all come to this. But I knew the answer to that one. I would like to say that it was all my own fault, but at this moment in time I was going to blame my mother.

My name is Stephanie Orr nee Plum, and my life is a mess!

Here I am at 28 years old, without a job, a car or a home and on the verge of what could turn out to be a very messy divorce. You see 2 weeks ago I found my husband Dickie fucking away with my most hated enemy Joyce Barnhardt on my shiny new dining room table. Now I know that many marriages end this way but our marriage was only 3 months old. Not only had I given up a perfectly nice apartment to live with this man, I had also given up my perfectly good job as a lingerie buyer to become a Burg housewife. Something which I was mostly against but something which my mother had persuaded me was the right thing to do. So you can see why I blame my mother for my current situation.

I was now back staying in my old bedroom sharing a one bathroom row house with an interfering mother, a father who says very little, and my completely off her rocker grandmother. To be honest though its my Grandma Mazur that has gotten me through this whole thing. She moved in with my parents when my grandfather ate his last Plum family dinner and went off to talk baseball with God. My Grandma never did like Dickie, she said his package wasn't impressive enough.

I never did have much luck with men. At age 6 I was tricked into letting a boy see my panties during a game of choo choo and some 10 years later or so I let the same boy see what was inside those panties. I lost my virginity to one of the Morelli boys behind the eclair counter of the Tasty Pastry where I was working after school at the time. He then let the whole of the Burg know about this by writing his version of events on various bathroom walls. I got my own back eventually by running him over with my father's Buick. Unfortunately he only suffered a broken leg which put him out of action for a few weeks. I had to suffer the Burg gossip mongering for a lot longer than that.

So here I was some years later letting another asshole ruin my life. It wasn't so much what Dickie had done to me, to be perfectly honest I hadn't really loved him, although I had thought I had at the time. I was kind of steam rolled into the whole marriage thing buy my mother and what was expected of a good Burg girl. What I was really pissed about was that I had lost my indepenence. I really needed to find a new apartment to start my life over but until I got a job I had no money to do so. That was why I was sitting here on Hamilton Avenue weighing up my options.

My mother had got me application forms for jobs at the button factory and personal products factory but that just wasn't me at all. I had been all set to start a job at the make up counter at Macy's until my first day when I found out I would be working with Joyce Barnhardt. Needless to say that never happened.

My father on the other hand had got me a position as Office Manager with my cousin Vincent Plum who ran his own bail bond office. Unfortunately the position was available because the previous Office Manager had found Vinnie in an awkward position with a duck in his office and had walked out. So you can understand my hesitance at taking on this job.

I was now just about to go to a job interview that would save me from ever having to witness a duck fucking incident while in the workplace. I was sitting outside a nondescript three storey building just half a block along from Vincent Plum Bail Bonds and was thinking this would be my last chance at finding a job all on my own. The job was again for an Office Manager but I had no more details than that. I had answered a small ad in the paper for this job and had received a letter yesterday asking me to come in to see the partners for a formal interview.

I read over the letter once more to prepare myself, got out the car and headed across the street. I tried to memorise the partners names in my head as I pressed the intercom button. Manoso, Santos, Brown and Devlin.

Collectively known as Rangeman Enterprises.

**Just a tiny wee chapter to set the scene. Let me know what you think**


	2. Chapter 2

Please let me know if I am doing anything wrong here, I'm finding it really difficult to get into this story as not being American I'm not sure if I'm phrasing things right. Thanks for all your great reviews so far. I've got lots of ideas just need to get the time to get them out!

All Janets, she's got the money not me!

Chapter 2

A crackled voice had advised me the door was open so I stepped into a small foyer. It looked really shabby and nondescript and there was no indication where I should go. There were two doors, one plain wooden and one bigger metal door with an electronic keypad on the outside. There was also an elevator to one side and a stairwell to the other side.

I decided the metal door looked too secure to be the door I should knock on so I walked towards the other one. Just then the door opened and a large black man with a buzz cut came out. He was well over 6ft tall and very muscular. I guessed him to be a similar age to myself as his skin was very smooth and he had a pleasant twinkle to his eye. He was dressed in black cargo pants and tight fitting black t shirt. Despite his size I didn't find him at all intimidating. My grandmother would have appreciated the package too. I would have to remember to tell her when I got home later. He took a step towards me and offered me his hand.

"Stephanie Orr, so glad you could make the interview" he said shaking my hand. My name is Bobby Brown, please come this way" he gestured for me to go first so I entered the room .

I paused soon after entering at the sight before me. There was a large desk sitting in the middle of the room with a bank of filing cabinets along one wall. There was another two doors to the back wall both with an electronic keypad similar to the one outside. Along one wall was a row of eight chairs and seven of those chairs were occupied by huge muscular men of all shapes and sizes. That is all shapes and sizes of enormous. They looked like thugs and inmates and not at all like office managers.

I turned back to Bobby Brown "I think maybe I've got the wrong idea about this job" I said looking for a quick escape out the door.

"Don't worry" he laughed. "They are here for other positions, you are the only one here for the office manager position. If you feel uncomfortable sitting out here I can put you in a smaller office" he said smiling. He had unbelievably white teeth.

"No I'll be fine here" not wanting to cause any trouble. If this was the type of employee this company required then there was no point in me looking intimidated by them. Bobby led me over to the empty chair and handed me a clip board with a form and a pen.

"If you could just fill in this security form, we'll call you when we are ready for you. I have to apologise though as we are running slightly over" he said.

"Oh that's okay I've nothing much else on today" and wasn't that the truth. I took a seat and watched Bobby walk over to sit at the desk. For such a menacing looking man he had a lovely polite manner.

The phone on the desk rang and Bobby answered it. "Yo" was the only word he spoke before hanging up.

He picked up a file from his desk then stood up and faced the group of men beside me.

"Yo Ram motherfucker, you're up" Bobby said. The behemoth that was Ram stood up and they both did one of those complicated handshake man hug things then walked towards one of the doors, Bobby keyed in a code and they were gone. Okay so maybe he wasn't that well spoken after all.

I looked down at the clipboard and started to fill in the answers. It was all pretty basic security questions like any previous convictions, outstanding court dates, next of kin, previous names or addresses etc. I filled it in pretty quickly and sat the clipboard on my lap. I suddenly became aware that the man beside me was looking at me sideways. He wasn't quite as big as some of the men but was still a couple of heads bigger than me and twice as wide. He was sitting looking at his form and chewing his pen and looking very uncomfortable. He really looked like he wanted to speak to me.

"Ehm are you okay?" I asked him nervously.

"Yeah, well no. Can you help me?" he asked pleadingly. He was kind of cute in a big teddy bear kind of way.

"What's up?" I asked wondering what I could help him with.

"Can you help me with this form, I kinda . . . . I'm having problems with . . . . . . Oh fuck!" she stopped and chewed on his pen some more.

"What is it?" I asked quietly looking past him at some of the other men. One of them had a snake tattoo on his forehead.

"Aw lady this is real embarrassing" he whispered. "I can't fucking write and I need this job real bad".

"Okay then give me the form and I'll fill it in for you, but you should maybe tell them you can't write in case you need to for the job you are applying for" I said diplomatically.

The man just roared with laughter along with the nearest few men who had overheard. Okay then maybe not.

"Well whatever, just give me the form" I said getting a bit ratty that they had laughed at me.

He handed the form but I used my own unchewed pen to write. I didn't want to get big scary cooties from this big scary man.

"Okay first question . . . Name? I asked him

"Binkie" he replied.

I looked at him "Binkie?"

"Yip" he replied.

"Binkie what?" I asked him. What kind of name was Binkie.

"It's just Binkie" he said.

"No surname?" I asked.

"I don't know it" he said shrugging his shoulders.

"You don't know it?" I asked incredulously "How can you not know your surname? Is Binkie even a proper name?"

Binkie suddenly looked like he was going to cry. This big muscular man with a skull tattoo on his arm was going to cry. I rummaged around in my bag for a tissue and handed it to him.

"I'm sorry miss" he sniffled "I just don't know my parents, all though foster care I was just Binkie. Never did find out my real name, or maybe I just forgot it".

"It's okay sorry to upset you" I said suddenly feeling really uncomfortable. "Lets get the rest of these questions answered.

We went through the rest of the form and I found out that Binkie had been in and out of prison since the age of 17. I had to write on the other side of the form to fit them all in. I felt even more uncomfortable now and was glad when he was finished and Bobby came out to ask him to come through. There was no way he would get a job with a record like that. Ram had left the room all smiles and had done the handshake thing again so things had obviously gone well for him.

I sat for another hour chewing my nails watching the other men slowly get their ten minutes. In went Cal, Hal, Bones, Woody and Junior. All came out smiling doing the handshake think with Bobby. Even Binkie.

Finally I was alone in the room with only my thoughts for company. I still had no clue as to what kind of office I would be managing. I was starting to think that whatever it was they did, it might not be legal.

A few minutes later the door opened and Bobby came out.

"Sorry we kept you so long Mrs Orr, we appreciate you waiting to see us. Come this way please".

I entered the room and stood there for a second, mouth hanging open. Three more scary men were sitting at a large table waiting for me. But something set these scary men aside from the ones I had just sat with. These scary men were hot!!

**That's it for now. I know you're all waiting to meet Ranger but you'll just have to wait a bit longer. Please review and let me know what you think.**


	3. Chapter 3

Okay so this is short, but the kids are on holiday from school so not getting much peace.

I don't own any of this (Unfortunately) oh except Adam

Chapter 3

I stood and stared at the men sat at the large table. There were three chairs along each side of the table and one at each end. Bobby gestured for me to take a seat before walking around the table to take a seat between two other men. One other man sat at the head of the table and I managed to kick him as a sat down. Great start.

"Stephanie Orr, let me introduce you to my partners" Bobby said gesturing to his left to the man opposite me "This is Lester Santos, and this is Adam Devlin" he said gesturing to the man on his right.

Both men stood up to shake my hands and I instantly felt tiny. They both must have been at least 6 foot 2 at the very least. Both men were dressed in black cargoes and painted on black t shirt. Lester was heavily muscled and I bet he had a great eight pack under his tightly fitting black t shirt. He had Latino features and big brown eyes with eyelashes to die for. He had dark brown, almost black hair which he wore tied back. He enveloped my hand in his and gave me a warm friendly smile. I turned to the other man, Adam. He was just as tall but not quite as muscular but I was still betting with myself that he had a great 8 pack hidden too. I was hoping that these men weren't wondering what was under my top and also that they didn't know that I was perving on them. Adam was white but tanned as if he spent a lot of time outdoors. He took my hand and shook it "Nice to meet your Mrs Orr" he said with an accent which could have been British.

"Call me Stephanie . . . please" I said. Being called Mrs Orr was making me feel sick.

"Okay, nice to meet you Stephanie" Adam said. He was still holding my hand which was lovely and warm. I decided he was Scottish.

I realised Bobby was talking again so I turned my attention back to him. "And this is Ric Manoso" he said gesturing to the man on my left.

Ric didn't offer me his hand, but nodded at me instead. "Stephanie" was all he said.

"Nice to meet your Ric" nodding back.

"Ranger" he replied.

"Sorry" I said confused.

"Call me Ranger". Okay then!

Ranger was slumped in his seat but he didn't look as tall as the other men, but what he lacked in height he made up for in pure magnetism. I was finding it hard to keep my eyes from him. He also had Latino features but less defined than Lester's. His skin was the colour of mocha latte and he had brown eyes, albeit unfriendly ones. His dark brown hair was mostly hidden under a black Navy Seals cap but what I could see was curled under his cap and over his ears in such a way that made me want to remove the cap and run my fingers through to neaten in a little. His painted on t shirt showed his well defined physique, and I could see that he did indeed have a tremendous eight pack. I could also tell from my vantage point beside him that he also had a package my grandmother would be proud of.

"Thank you" Ranger said.

"Excuse me? I asked.

"For the compliment" Ranger said while his lips twitched slightly. I looked at the other men and Bobby and Lester were grinning away like idiots. Adam was just shaking his head.

"What compliment? I asked feeling really stupid now.

"The one you just thought in your head" Ranger said without looking at me. Bobby and Lester started giggling like girls.

"I'm sorry Stephanie, I have to apologise for my colleagues' behaviour. Unfortunately Ranger here doesn't think we need an office manager but I beg to differ. Please ignore his comments and pretend he isn't here" he said to me with a kind smile.

"Fuck you Dev" Ranger growled at him

"Okay" I said "Maybe this is a bad idea. There's really no point me being here if this position isn't definite, I do have other job offers you know. I'm not going to sit here and be some kind of . . . . . entertainment for you all". I pushed my chair back to stand up but Ranger's arm shot out to grab the chair to stop me from moving.

"Sit" Ranger demanded.

Okay so now I was mad. Suddenly all the anger I had kept suppressed over the last few weeks bubbled up to the surface. Who the hell did this man think he was trying to stop me from leaving. Maybe sensible Stephanie should have been scared being stuck in a room with four scary big men but angry Stephanie just didn't give a fuck.

"Sit!" I shouted "I'll give you fucking sit" and before sensible Stephanie could intervene, angry Stephanie hit Ranger on the arm with her bag. Oops!

I sat there frozen to the spot in shock. Did I really just hit this very hot, but also very scary man with my bag. I watched as a big welt began to form on his bare arm where the big buckle on my bag had hit home. Ranger still had his arm on my chair so I couldn't escape even if I wanted to. I slowly looked up and turned to Adam, who, out of all the men, had seemed the friendliest. I met his eyes and saw that he was trying to hold back a grin. Looking at Bobby and Lester though, I could see that they weren't quite so successful. They were both grinning like a couple of gigantic cheshire cats.

I wasn't aware my mouth was hanging open until a hand touched my chin and snapped it shut. I realised it was Ranger's hand and he was now trailing a finger from my chin up my left cheek. I snapped out of my daze and batted his hand away as if it was an annoying insect. I met his eyes and saw that there was humour in them now. The unfriendliness of earlier was now gone. A twitch to the corner of his mouth confirmed that he had found the whole matter quite amusing. Okay so maybe he wasn't going to shoot me now but I was still pissed that I was now really giving them some entertainment.

I gathered myself together and managed to push myself back now that Ranger was no longer holding on to my chair.

"If you'll excuse me gentlemen, I don't think I am what you are looking for, so it's best I just leave now" I said slowly standing up.

"Really that's a shame" Adam said "Because I think you just proved that you are exactly what we are looking for".


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry another short chapter, keep getting distracted my work, kids etc. Please review and make me happy!**

**If you recognise it, its Janet's.**

Chapter 4

"Stephanie, please take a seat and let me explain" Adam said.

I stood there for a second wondering what would be the wise thing to do here. I felt humiliated by the way Manoso was treating me but at the same time fascinated as to what this company and the job was actually all about. My curiosity won in the end and I sat back down.

"Thank you Stephanie" Adam said. "I can understand why you might want to run out the door and never look back but let me tell you a little more about why we think you may be perfect for this company. Please will you give us one more chance" he pleaded. I looked at Adam with his blond hair, blue eyes and friendly smile and wondered if I could trust him. I decided I would give him one more chance. Surely any job would be better than working for Vinnie.

"Stephanie you are actually the fourth person to turn up for interview" Adam explained. "We had invited six people but two have obviously decided for whatever reason not to show. The first two applicants took one look at Bobby here and decided they had other places to be" Adam smiled looking at Bobby who just shrugged his shoulders. "The last person before you made it into the office, but once confronted by men in the room decided that the job definitely wasn't for them and left in rather a hurry".

"You can understand that some women would be intimidated by . . . . individuals of that size" I said trying to be diplomatic in my assessment of the thugs that were outside.

"The last person was a man" Lester said with a grin. "You shouldn't just assume that all applicants for the office manager's job were female Stephanie. We are an equal opportunities employer after all" he said looking at Ranger with an even bigger grin. Ranger just glared back at him. I got the impressed that he wasn't just against an office manager. It was possible he was against any female employees too.

"Stephanie you have got this far" Adam continued giving Lester a look. "Apart from a brief moment when you saw the men, you haven't seemed phased by any of this at all" he stated.

I pondered this but then suddenly wondered how Adam had seen my reaction. Had Bobby conveyed to them my hesitance.

"We have camera's in all rooms" Adam said reading my mind. Damn they were good at this ESP thing. We were watching on monitors as you came in" he said indicating to a small flat screen television in the corner I hadn't noticed before. "We watched you entering the building, talking to Bobby and then your reaction to your fellow interviewees. We have also been watching you while you have been waiting".

"That's a bit of a violation of privacy is it not?" I asked feeling a little bit pissed I had been watched all this time. I tried to remember if I had scratched anywhere I shouldn't have.

"You will have to get used to that if you end up working here" Bobby said. "We have camera's nearly everywhere in this building for security reasons".

"Again we will explain more about the job later" Adam said. "I would just like to ask you a few questions first if I may?" he asked "First of all Stephanie, you didn't seem intimidated by Bobby in the foyer. Why was that?"

"I didn't find him particularly scary" I said truthfully.

"Why not?" Bobby asked me giving me a glare. But his eyes defied that fact that he wasn't really mad at me.

I looked at him and wondered if I should admit the truth to them. I decided I might as well be honest as I'm sure they were all masters of ESP anyway. "You have lovely twinkly eyes" I said sheepishly. "Yeah I can see why your height and build would be scary to some people, but your eyes spoil the menacing look I'm afraid" I added waiting the laughter this comment would surely bring. But all I got was silence.

"What about Lester here?" Bobby asked. I looked across at Lester who was obviously trying to give me a daunting bad ass glare.

"You have amazing eyelashes" I said colour rising up my cheeks. I had decided to be honest after all. Lester just looked at me.

"What about Dev then?" Bobby asked. "Did you notice his big blue peepers or his lovely coiffed hair" he asked a smile spreading across his face.

"No actually it was his lovely accent" I admitted. "I was trying to work out if he was English or Scottish".

"Most definitely Scottish" Adam stated. "And Ranger?" he asked

I looked over at Ranger who was now sitting more upright in his chair so at least my eyes didn't sneak a look down below and give me away. Although the fact was I had found this man to be scary, but wasn't sure if I wanted to admit to that.

"I think I know what Stephanie's first impressions of me were, and I don't think we should embarrass her by getting her to tell us" he said.

"I thought you were arrogant and rude" I snipped back at him.

"So you don't find any of us particularly scary then?" Adam asked

"Sorry no" I answered. Okay maybe a tiny bit intimitating yes, but I wasn't going to tell them that.

"Whatever Stephanie" Ranger said looking at me shaking his head.

"Can I just ask Stephanie" Adam said interrupting Ranger and I trying to stare each other out "In your original letter of application you stated your name was Orr, but on your security form you are now Plum. I take it you have gone through a recent divorce?" he asked.

"Not yet but very soon I hope" I replied. "I am now separated from my husband though".

"Plum?" Ranger said raising an eyebrow.

"I know" I said wearily. "I've heard them all, sweet and juicy, round and firm, good to eat. I've heard them all" I said rolling my eyes.

"Actually" Ranger said with a slight smirk on his face. "I was thinking Vincent Plum".

"Oh" was all I could say as my face reddened as I watched all four men trying not to laugh too much. "He's my cousin" I managed to add composing myself.

"You're related to Vinnie Plum?" Lester asked laughing. "Doesn't he have a thing for goats?"

"Ducks actually" I said. "And it's not something that run's in my family. He's the black sheep in the Plum family tree" .

"So you're not close then?" Lester asked.

"I try to stay as far away as possible from that weasel" I said. Which could turn out to be quite a difficult task if I end up having to work for him. I wondered how these men knew Vinnie.

"We pick up the high end FTA's for Vincent Plum Bail Bonds" Adam answered my question.

FTA was short for Failure to Appear. I had done some research on Vinnie's business and learned that he bailed out most of the Burg's petty criminals but on occasion he would get some real nasty piece of work. If one of these FTA's went AWOL then Vinnie lost his money, which I'm sure didn't make him happy. His father in law was Harry the Hammer and if his daughter Lucille wasn't kept in the lifestyle she was accustomed to then there was hell to pay for Vinnie. I knew he hired a couple of bond enforcement agents aka bounty hunters but they weren't up to much. In fact one of them, Morty Beyers, was a big, fat unhealthy pig so I could see why Vinnie would turn to a company like Rangeman to ensure he got the big money bonds back.

"Stephanie?" I was brought back to reality by Adam's lilting voice. "I can explain about FTA's if I've lost you" he said.

"No actually I was just thinking even if you don't decide to hire me, or if I don't decide to be hired" I added just to let them know I wasn't necessarily a sure thing. "that I would end up working with you in one way or another anyway. My other job offer I mentioned was Office Manager for Vinnie".

"Well there you go Adam" Ranger said with a grin. "Stephanie here really doesn't need this job she has a much better offer on the table. I'm sure you'll be much happier along the road than stuck here with us" he finished standing up.

"Ric, we as Partners decided that . . . " Adam started but I wouldn't let him finish. I was furious again at the nerve of this Ranger person. Who the hell did he think he was?

"Just you wait a minute" I shouted. "I didn't come here today to be made a fool of or to be spied on, and many other people would be long gone, as you have found out for yourselves. But I am still here so don't you dare tell me just to toddle off along to work for Vinnie just because you are too arrogant and selfish to listen to the people you work with" I carried on glaring at Ranger who had sat back down. "I'm sick of people telling me what I should and shouldn't do. It's listening to those people that has got me in the mess I am today. So no I won't go off and work for Vinnie and yes . . . " I said turning to Adam "If there is a job offer here for me today then I accept. If you want me you've got me" I finished and glared at all four men who were sitting looking at me with a mixture of amusement and respect.

"Don't you want to learn a little bit more about us and what you will be doing?" Bobby asked eyes twinkling away.

"I can learn as I go along" I said standing up. "When do I start?" I asked.

"How about Monday?" Adam asked.

"Monday is fine". I said. Today was Thursday. "9am?" I asked.

"0700 hours" Ranger said not looking at me.

I did some quick thinking "7am?" I gasped. That would mean I would have to get up around 5am to get ready in time.

"Is that a problem" Ranger said looking up at me.

"Nope, not a problem" I said.

"Good, we'll see you then" Adam stood to shake my hand. "Dress all in black please, we can sort a uniform out for you once you have started. I'll have our lawyers send out a letter stating your salary and conditions. I hope you find them to be satisfactory" he said leading me to the door.

I said my goodbyes to the rest of the men apart from Ranger who hadn't bothered to stand. I walked as fast as I could out on to the street and over to my car. I was going to have to race home to my mother's. I was so nervous after my outburst I thought I was going to wet myself!


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry this has taken a bit longer to get moving. Was struggling a bit so have decided to change tactics and go for different POVs. Let me know if you think it's working, or whether I should go back to the drawing board with this one. I know Ranger may seem a bit out of character but remember this was all set before One for the Money and dark things are in the pipeline for Batman. Things that may change his outlook on life to make him more like the Ranger we know and love now.**

**Usual Janet disclaimer applies. You know the story!**

Chapter 5

It was 6.45am on Monday and I was sitting at the rear door of the Tasty Pastry in my ghastly Buick. There was a gentle tap on my window and the reason for me being here had finally arrived. I shoved a note in the hand that appeared and took the box that was offered. I then sped off towards Hamilton Avenue. I was going to be late for my first day at Rangeman!

* * *

I sat there looking at the clock on the wall. It was 0710 hours. It looked like our new employee was late for her first day at work. With any luck she had seen sense and wouldn't turn up at all. We didn't need an Office Manager and the guys knew how I felt on the subject. But I had been out voted. Dev said we needed more organisation in the office. How could we not be any more organised, you can't get any more organised than the military, with our training we were the best of the best. Dev's argument was that, yes while we could sneak through a third world jungle without detection, or survive in a blistering desert for a month, if the office ran out of staples or post its there would be chaos. This from the man who had fought off five Iraqi soldiers single handed, after he had been shot and fallen from our helicopter during a bungled rescue attempt. Now he was having panic attacks over stationery!

Bobby and Lester had agreed with him too, but they just wanted to get laid. This Stephanie didn't stand a chance. She was a white bread girl from the Burg. What did she know about the security business? Especially our security business. We were employed by various agencies, or private clients in a range of security aspects, from protecting high profile personalities, to clearing out drug addicts who had overstayed their landlords welcome. From tracking down and 'removing' individuals for the Government, to catching scum of the earth criminals who had gone FTA. Stephanie Plum had bought big knickers for a low end department store. Go figure?

So now we had our new Office Manager, Stephanie Plum. I couldn't decide if I thought she was plain stupid, or plain ballsy. She had taken on this job just to piss me off, or at least just to prove that she won't be told what to do. She doesn't know what she has taken on. Granted she had sat in a room full of bad ass mercenaries without hardly batting an eyelash, but she doesn't realise that she is going to be dealing with those men on a day to day basis. And they are the good guys! Okay so she won't be dealing with the bad guys personally, but she will be reading their files, seeing some of the darkest secrets Trenton and further a field has kept hidden. I would bet the first file she comes across with a picture of a dead body and she will be out of here. And there will be a few of those files kicking around.

What annoys me even more is that our first office in Miami doesn't have an office manager. We set that up a few years ago and we have never needed someone to order paperclips or make the coffee there. That office runs itself, under the supervision of a very good friend and ex army comrade. He runs the place like clockwork and sure as hell doesn't need anyone to do the filing. But Dev argues that the Trenton office deals with more Government agencies so we need a better visible image. Hence the leggy brunette with the big blue eyes.

Stephanie Plum is just going to be a distraction. All our employees are intelligent men with military backgrounds. Hell Binkie has a law degree to go with his military distinctions. But he walked into our office last week with a raging hard on, after Ms Plum had touched his hand giving him a tissue after she fell for his 'stupid' act. Bobby had asked him to talk to her so we could gauge her reaction to dealing with the type of people she would be working with. To her credit she didn't seem outwardly concerned by his fake prison record, but the look on her face when she realised Binkie must have been given a job was priceless.

In fact all those men already had a job with us, they were only in to sign their contracts, but Lester thought it would be good idea to have them wait with the Office Manager candidates to assess whether or not they could work with these characters. It obviously worked as we were only left with the one candidate. I'll give Santos that one, his psychology degree comes in handy sometimes.

But back to her being a distraction. Every one of those men came into our office and made a comment about her, from great legs to fantastic breasts. We have only ever had two woman working for Rangeman. One I had to get rid of because she turned out to be a major distraction, especially to me. I ended up getting shot because of it. That was a situation I vowed I would never let myself get in again. Thankfully the other woman is in her fifties, and the only man she distracts is her husband Louis. They manage this building for us, and I can't see any of our men getting a hard on over Ella.

I'll give Stephanie Plum a week before she either walks out, or Dev decides I was right about not needing a disruptive influence around the place. And Ms Plum definitely seemed like they type of woman to be the disruptive type. Hell she shouted at me - twice! Not to mention the fact she hit me with her bag.

I looked at the clock again. It was now 0720 hours. Dev and I were the first in the office this morning. Lester had been on a take down last night and Bobby was doing a late shift tonight. Hal and Binkie were on monitor duty through in the control room. I looked over at Dev who was busy producing a bill for last night's job. The Government paid well when we got their man, especially when that man had to be 'eliminated'.

"Looks like your new recruit is a no show Dev."

Dev looked up at me then up at the clock. I don't think he had even noticed the time. He had been here since 0500 hours. He looked over to one of the small security monitors we have in our office and smiled. I looked over at the screen and saw Stephanie Plum run across the street, in front of a car causing it to swerve to avoid her. She stood in front of the doors and fixed her hair, while balancing a box on her knee. She had worn black as instructed, but the suit was tight fitting with a short skirt. She also wore a pair of black heels that made her legs look . . . . . . . shit, you see what I mean - a distraction already!

Dev was just about to get up to let her in when there was the sound of shouting and a struggle coming from the control room. I checked the camera's next door. What the fuck! Hal and Binkie were struggling to get out the door. Not an easy task when you are both 6ft 5 inches and built like houses. Binkie lost out and Hal went rampaging through the door. I looked at the next camera and saw him running to let our new Office Manager in the building.

"What did I tell you?" I said to Dev.

Dev just laughed and walked past me into the outer office. I followed behind, meaning to give this woman a piece of my mind.

We walked into the office as Hal was showing her in. Her face was flushed and she was breathing heavily. I tried not to focus on her cleavage heaving up and down in the tight black V neck top she had under her suit jacket. This just wasn't going to work.

"I'm so sorry I'm late" she gasped. "I went by the bakery for some doughnuts as a . . . . you know a first day thing to impress you guys, but their ovens were down so I had to wait ten minutes, then I got jelly all down my topas I hadn't had time for breakfast so I had to go back home and change, but I don't own a lot of black so it took a while to find something suitable, but anyway, I'll make the time up it's not a problem. Doughnut anyone?"

I looked around the room at Dev, Hal and Binkie who had just joined us. Men I have been under fire with in Afghanistan, and had taken down drug lords in Columbia. They all smiled like goons and took a doughnut.

"Don't worry about it Stephanie" Dev said wiping sugar from his shirt. I think maybe 8am would be a more suitable starting time from now on. There isn't really an awful lot for you to get started on so early on in the day". Where was his fucking backbone?

Stephanie turned to me with her big blue eyes and offered the bakery box to me. She smiled and fluttered her eyelashes at me.

"Doughnut, Ranger" she said, clenching her teeth slightly as she said my name. Somehow I don't think she likes me much.

"That stuff will kill you Babe".

**Please please please review. I promise I will try and get on with this story as quick as I can.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you all so much for your great reviews, it has encouraged me to carry on with this story as quick as I can, well as long as real life lets me.**

**Usual disclaimer etc**

Chapter 6

I looked at the three men all enjoying their doughnuts. Ranger had skulked back to his office after declaring them unhealthy. Well he could think what he likes, they were a main staple of my diet so I didn't care. Adam, Binkie and the other scary guy didn't seem to care either. In fact Binkie was reaching for the box again so I slapped his hand away.

"I only got a dozen, keep some for the others" I exclaimed.

Binkie gave me a look, similar to the one he gave me before my interview when he told me he couldn't read. I gave in and gave him another one. The other scary guy tried a similar look but it didn't work on him. He was just too big to carry it off. I shut the box and put it on the desk behind me.

"Stephanie, I'm so glad you agreed to the terms of employment I sent you. May I just say welcome to the team." Adam said shaking my hand. "You have already met Binkie, and this is Hal, who you may remember was here the same day as your interview."

Hal offered his huge hand to me and I took it, trying not to worry about broken bones. He must have been about 6'5" and was as wide as a bus. The name Halosaurus popped into my head and wouldn't shift. I turned to shake Binkie's hand.

"Lovely to meet you again Stephanie, and thank you so much for the cakes" Binkie said shaking my hand. What the hell happened to the ghetto twang he last used when he spoke to me?

"Who the fuck is manning the control room?" shouted an angry Ranger from the inner office.

"We best get back to our posts, I look forward to working with you Stephanie" Binkie said before he and the Halosaurus disappeared back through the door we had entered through.

"Likewise" I muttered turning to Adam.

"I have to apologise Stephanie, Binkie set you up I'm afraid. We wanted to test just how you would react to someone with a . . . . colourful past should I say. You passed with flying colours."

"So Binkie doesn't have a criminal record as long as my arm?" I asked.

"No but he does have a glittering military record as long are both your arms, as well as a law degree he achieved before he signed up. You'll find that with most of the men working here that looks can be deceptive."

"Okay, so where do I start?"

"Well this will be your desk here, and you will be in charge of this office and everything that goes on in here. I will show you the control room in a few days once you have found your feet, but you won't really have much reason to leave this room, apart from maybe heading up to the break room or the gym".

Gym! I shuddered at the thought. The break room sounded good though. I hope they had good coffee.

"Let me just show you our office" Adam said heading to the other door I hadn't been in. I already knew behind the first door was the meeting room.

We entered a large room with four workstations, one at each corner. Ranger was sat at a desk at the far corner. He looked up, nodded, then carried on with whatever he was doing. He really didn't want me here.

"Ranger, Bobby, Lester and myself all work out of here. Luckily for us not usually all at the same time. We do try to have at least two partners around at any one time, but we are finding that a bit difficult now that things have taken off here." Adam moved over to a workstation at the opposite side of the room from Ranger's and indicated I sit at a chair across from his desk. "That is another reason why we need someone in the office who can liaise between us when our schedules mean we miss each other. What we need is some continuity."

"I thought that's what post it notes were for" Ranger said from behind his desk.

"Please just ignore him Stephanie" Adam said.

"I'm sorry Adam but I can't just ignore the fact that Ranger doesn't want me here. He is a Partner after all. How is this continuity going to work if only three of the Partners speak to me, and the other does his own thing."

I looked over at Ranger and he glared back at me. Why the hell did he hate me so much? Well he might not want me here but I was going to try and make this work, so to hell with him. If Adam thought this situation was workable then so be it.

"Give him a few days, when he sees that this arrangement is working you'll have him eating out of your hand." Adam laughed

I got a warm tingly feeling at the thought of Ranger eating out of my hand but I quickly quashed it. I looked over at him and gave him one last sardonic smile before turning back to face Adam. I noticed a framed picture on Adam's desk, something that was missing from the other three desks in the room. I looked at the picture of a pretty blonde woman holding two smiling children, one still a baby the other maybe 3 or 4.

"My wife Heather and our children Skye and Ewan" Adam said noticing my nosiness. "I'm afraid I am pretty unique around here having a wife and children. I suppose that makes me the boring partner."

I smiled at him but didn't comment. There was nothing wrong with being married but the thought of children made me shiver. It also reminded me of what was expected of me when I married Dickhead. My mother just couldn't understand my hesitance at wanting to start a family with him. The fact is I am not ready to start a family with any man. I can't even look after a houseplant never mind a small child. I could possibly stretch to a goldfish or a hamster, but that would be pushing it too.

"Is your wife Scottish too?" I asked Adam.

"She is, we met in our teens and have been together ever since, although we have spent large amounts of time apart whilst I was in the military. If you ask her she'll probably say that's why we have lasted so long" he laughed softly looking lovingly at the photograph. "We've been married nearly 13 years now, but decided to hold off starting a family until I was discharged from the army. When we started Rangeman Heather moved out here from Scotland and Ewan came along shortly after. We've never looked back."

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you all meet?" I asked. How did a British soldier end up with a bunch of American's? I might as well get all the background information now. I heard Ranger let out a sigh. Obviously too much chit chat for him going on.

"I met Ranger about 8 years ago during a joint covert operation between the British and US governments in Afghanistan. We worked well together, and our Governments used us again for similar operations. Ranger already knew Bobby and Lester from his time in the Army Rangers. They worked together on similar ops for your Government. We were all discharged around the same time so we got together for a deep sea fishing and male bonding vacation and the beginnings of Rangeman was born. We opened our Miami office four years ago, and Trenton two months ago. We have become a victim of our own success really hence the mass recruitment we have taken on this week. We have up until now been relying on favours from friends and former colleagues, most of whom have taken up permanent jobs with us now."

Phew, these men have been through some serious shit together. I thought my life had been sucky recently but these guys had been in Afghanistan after 9/11, and probably saw things I couldn't even imagine. It kind of puts things into perspective. It also kind of explained why Ranger was such an ass!

"If you have any more questions just ask" Adam said. "Now let me tell you a little of what you will be doing. First of all I will admit that there is no proper job description for you yet, as this is a first for us to have any admin staff working with us. Obviously we will be expecting you to take charge of the general running of the place like making sure stationery is plentiful, and arranging refreshments for meetings etc. I will introduce you to Ella later. Ella and her husband Louis manage the building for us, and Ella takes care of all our catering needs, but it will be up to you to liaise with her when we have meetings."

Thank God for that, domesticity is not my strong point. If they were relying on me to provide refreshments alone they would have to get used to Cluck in a Bucket, or failing that, more of what I brought with me this morning.

"We will also be expecting you to take care of our client files. We have a system already in place which you should follow. The filing cabinets are all in your office. We also keep electronic back ups which are kept offsite, in case of . . . . . . "

"Terrorist bombings" Ranger finished for him. I spun round and came face to eight pack with Ranger, who had sneaked up behind me.

"Fucking hell has no one ever told you it's rude to sneak up on people like that" I shouted up at him.

"Dev, what the fuck's with this filing and providing coffee shit. Why don't you tell her about the searches she need's to do for us to help catch the vicious bastards we are employed to track down. Or the buildings we provide security for in downtown Trenton to keep the drug addicts and pimps away from the good citizens that live there. You need to let Stephanie here know exactly what she's here for, so that she can decide whether to get the fuck of out here and get a nice safe job working at Macy's or something."

I tried to count to ten to keep my temper in check. He was doing it again! I don't know if he was trying to intimidate me, or just trying to give me a reality check. I could feel the heat radiating off his body he was standing so close. He had one hand leaning on the back of my chair and the other on Adam's desk. I leaned back slightly and my back touched his arm. The feeling was like an electric shock. But I wasn't going to let him think he was getting to me so I didn't move, and he didn't move his arm away either. I was still trying to count but got lost somewhere around five!

Adam looked at Ranger then back at me again. "Okay Ranger have it your way, Stephanie what we do here can be dangerous, but you will be in this secure building and you will not be in danger at any time at all. Yes Ranger is right you will be required to carry out all our searches for us, but I was going to leave that until later after you get settled. Thanks to Ranger I will tell you about them now."

Ranger backed off then and headed to the door. He turned back and looked right at me, for the first time since I had walked in. "You just need to know exactly what you're in for here. It doesn't matter what I think of you, or how I feel about having an office manager, I'm already used to this world. I've been around stuff you can only imagine in your worst nightmares, all of us have" he said looking over at Adam.

"This is a reality check Babe, are you really ready for this?"

"How bad can it be? What's the difference between me working here, sitting in a secure building, to working along the street for Vinnie, in his open office with the big glass window. He deals with criminals everyday too so why is working here any worse?" I asked

"Show her the files Dev, then let her decide which would be the safer place to be."

**Ok had to get some background stuff in so not much happening in this chapter. Will get it moving along in the next one. Please let me know what you think.**


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